Breakdown of Bibi anaeleza mapokeo ya kijiji.
ya
of
kijiji
the village
bibi
the grandmother
kueleza
to explain
Questions & Answers about Bibi anaeleza mapokeo ya kijiji.
Why does bibi take the verb prefix a- in anaeleza, even though bibi does not start with m- like many singular person nouns?
Because bibi is still treated as a singular human noun for agreement purposes. In Swahili, many nouns referring to people take class 1/2 agreement, even if their form is irregular. So the verb uses a-, the normal subject marker for a singular human subject.
Does a- mean she specifically?
No. a- can mean he or she. Swahili normally does not mark gender in the verb the way English does. You understand it as she here because bibi refers to a female person.
How is anaeleza built?
It can be broken down like this:
- a- = subject marker for he/she or a singular human subject
- -na- = present/imperfective marker
- -eleza = verb root meaning explain, describe, or clarify
So anaeleza can mean she explains, she is explaining, or she describes, depending on context.
Does -na- always mean an English is ...ing form?